Device for supporting and displaying neckties

ABSTRACT

A device for supporting and displaying haberdashery, especially pretied neckties having supporting hooks built therein, comprising a yieldable foraminous surface mounted under slight tension to provide surfaces having a plurality of discrete supporting means defined therein upon which such ties may be hung and from which one may be removed independently of others suspended therefrom. The device is mountable in a vertical plane to provide access from either of two sides.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Charles E. Bowman, Jr.

414 Anderson St., Crown Point, Ind. 46307 211 Appl. No. 26,247

[22] Filed Apr. 7, 1970 [45] Patented Sept. 28, 1971 Continuation-impart of 628,374, Apr. 4, 1967, now abandoned.

[54] DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING AND DISPLAYING NECKTIES 4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 211/96, 211/116, 211/169 [51] Int. Cl A471 7/19, A47d 51/24 [50] FieldoiSearch 211/115, 95,96,169.1,110,116,169,165,13 D,47,48; 40/102, 72; 190/16; 248/458 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 728,219 5/1903 Feldmann 211/169 766,373 8/1904 MeElhenie 211/169 X 845,443 2/ 1907 Allardice 21 1/94 UX 882,856 3/1908 21l/169.l X 1,012,606 12/1911 190/16 1,720,053 7/1929 40/72 2,521,100 9/1950 Sublette 211/113X FOREIGN PATENTS 325,729 10/1902 Franee 21 1/96 1,419,329 10/1965 France 211/165 238,820 5/1962 Australia 21 1/89 Primary Examiner-Roy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner-Abraham Franklin Attorney-Richard R. Mybeck ABSTRACT: A device for supporting and displaying haberdashery, especially pretied neckties having supporting hooks built therein, comprising a yieldable foraminous surface mounted under slight tension to provide surfaces having a plurality of discrete supporting means defined therein upon which such tics may be hung and from which one may be removed independently of others suspended therefrom. The device is mountable in a vertical plane to provide access from either of two'sides.

DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING AND DISPLAYING NECK'IIES This application is filed pursuant to a requirement for a final restriction received in my copending US. Pat. application Ser. No. 628,374, filed Apr. 4, 1967, now abandoned and constitutes a continuation-in-part thereof. This invention relates to a supporting and display device for haberdashery and more particularly to a device for supporting and displaying pretied four-in-hand and bow ties whereby a plurality of such ties can be supported, readily viewed for comparative evaluation, and a single tie can be selected and removed therefrom without altering the position of any other necktie disposed thereupon. My device is especially suited for supporting and displaying those neckties which have supporting hooks built therein and it possess among its unique features, the propensity of being approached and used from either of two sides.

The advent of the pretied four-in-hand tie having a supporting hook built thereinto, brought forth a need for a supporting device which would allow a plurality of such ties to be independently supported and conveniently accessible without disturbing other ties disposed on the device. It was further need to provide such a device which could maximize the number of ties thus supported while minimizing the space needed to accomplish this end.

The only prior devices known to provide any support for pretied necktie are U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,185, Arrington et al., May I2, 1959 and US. Pat. No. 3,203,556, Tejerian, Aug. 3l, I965. As is evident, however, neither of these patents teach a structure which is comparable to the present invention nor which is capable of accomplishing the results of this invention as it is hereinafter defined.

The present invention is predicated upon my design of an improved device for supporting and displaying haberdashery, especially pretied neckties, in which a yieldable foraminous surface is mounted under slight tension and is attachable by means of a support structure so that ties may be supported therefrom on either of two sides thereof. Further, individual ties may be supported by and removed from my device without disturbing the position or neatness of any other tie supported thereby.

Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved device for supporting and displaying haberdashery, especially pretied four-in-hand ties having a supporting hook built therein, which permits each tie to be independently suspended therefrom in a manner which allows each to be removed therefrom without disturbing any other tie suspended therefrom.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved device for supporting and displaying neckties in which each necktie suspended therefrom is prevented from sliding and bunching onto other ties supported thereby.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved device for supporting and displaying neckties which maximizes the number of ties supportable in a given area while minimizing the area required.

These and still further objects as shall hereinafter appear are readily fulfilled by the present invention in a totally unobvious fashion as will be readily discerned from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof, especially when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. I is a frontal elevation of a device having a single support surface;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a frontal elevation of another device having a single support surface;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of a device embodying the'present invention showing the pivotal mounting therefor, and the double support surfaces thereof;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary frontal elevation of a device having a single support surface;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the device of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an end view of a pivotal device of the type shown in FIG. 4 mounted on an auxiliary support; and

FIG. 8 is a view of another device embodying the dual support surfaces of the present invention and employing alternative means for securing the foraminous member.

Referring to the accompanying drawing in which like parts bear like numerals throughout the several views, FIGS. I, 2, 3, 5 and 6 are especially relevant to the species of my aforementioned parentcase whereas FIGS. 4, 7 and 8 are directed to the species of this disclosure. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an embodiment is shown which is especially well suited for stationary mounting on a wall, door or like flat surface and is indicated by the general reference 10. Device 10 comprises a yieldable foraminous member 11 which may be formed of a rectangular sheet of woven netting comprising a plurality of vertical strands 12 interwoven with a plurality of horizontal strands 13 and extending between an upper edge I4 and a lower edge 15 in a vertical direction and between side edges 16, 17 in a horizontal direction. The sheet of netting is placed under slight tension as it is mounted into a support means 20 which comprises an upper clamping member 21 and a lower clamping member 22 respectively, disposed along and operatively associated with edges 14, 15. Each clamping member, for example, member 21, comprises a from bar 23 and a rear bar 24 which are attached to one another by suitable securing means such as screws 25. In securing the net into the clamping member, a longitudinal edge of the netting, e.g., edge 14, is inserted between front bar 23 and rear bar 24 of the clamping member 21 and tightly secured therebetween by drawing down securing means 25.

Adjacent each end of the upper clamping member 21, suitable mounting means such as screws 31 are employed which permits the attachment of the device to a suitable supporting surface such as a wall or a door, as previously mentioned. The weight of lower clamping member 22 acting in response to the pull of gravity thereupon places netting 11 under slight tensron.

Variations of my device may be accomplished by providing rear bar 24 with a series of spaced depending hooks 42 which may be utilized to hang belts or other similar articles of haberdashery. If desired, a pair of bracket members 37 may be operatively associated with screws 32 on lower clamping member 22 to support a tie bar 44 extending therebetween. In this structure, each bracket member 37 has a loop portion 38 extending from shank portion 39 which merges into base portion 40 which has an aperture 4I disposed in registry with and permitting the passage therethrough of a screw 32. Thus, portion 40 is secured between the head of screw 32 and the adjacent surface of front bar 23. If more convenient, bracket member 37 may be secured to clamping member 22 by separate screws.

As shown in FIG. 2, shank 39 of each bracket 37 extends obliquely away from frontal bar 23 of clamping member 22 whereupon each loop portion 38 is disposed in spaced relationship to bar 23 and in registry with each of the other loop portions 38 whereupon a longitudinally extending rod member 44 may be inserted through them for suspended support therebetween. As assembled, rod 44 provides a convenient support means for draping conventional four-in-hand and bow ties thereupon as desired. If convenient, rod 44 may be operatively associated with the upper portion of device 10 as shown in FIGS. 5-8. As before, bracket member 37 suspends rod 44 from the support means 20.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, which show devices similar in basic structure to the embodiment of FIGS. I and 2 but which present the major dimension of foraminous member II in a vertical direction, it is noted that member II is obtained by clamping the ends 14, I5 of a yieldable netting.

A further optional modification comprises the provision of a plurality of individual radially extending tie holding means, such for example as loops 45 or prongs 46, on rod 44 which is suspended in spaced relationship to support means 20 by bracket means 37.

Referring now to FIG. 3, another embodiment of my invention, especially suited for vertical stationary mounting, is

shown and comprises a foraminous member 11 which may be prepared by stamping a plurality of interlocking vertical and horizontal strips, respectively identified at 12 and 13, into a semirigid sheet of suitable plastic such as polyethylene or the like whereby member 11 is defined vertically between an upper edge 14 and a lower edge 15 and is defined laterally be edges l6, 17. The transverse relationship of the several vertical strands 12 with the horizontal strands l3 defines a plurality of openings 18 in generally aligned rank and file relationship to each other.

Member 11 is provided with a suitable selvage means 20 which may be formed by leaving a selvage of plastic around the foraminous portion in stamping the member or by inserting the complete plastic sheet into a generally rectangular frame 26. In either case, the support means 20 is then attached to the wall or door with which it is to be associated by suitable mounting means 30, for instance, upper screws 31 and lower screws 32.

Referring now to FIG. 4, wherein a preferred embodiment of my device having dual surface utility is shown; device comprises a foraminous rectangular member ll formed of a yieldable plastic or a woven netting mounted on support means 20 comprising a tubular U-frame having a longitudinal shaft member 27 operatively interposed between two outreaching arm members 28, 29. Arm members 28, 29 are connected to said rectangular member 11 as by threading arm members 28, 29 through alternating vertical strands 12 adjacent the upper edge 14 and the lower edge of member 11, respectively, to maintain member 11 under slight tension.

Support means is in turn mounted to the desired vertical surface by mounting means 30 which may comprise an upper hinge member 33 and lower hinge member 34 fastened to a desired vertical surface, such as a wall, door and the like in spaced substantial vertical alignment with each other and each engages a portion of shaft member 27 to permit shaft member 27 to rotate relative thereto and obtain pivotal action therewith. By this arrangement, shaft member 27 is maintained in a fixed spatial relationship to the vertical surface and is rotatable in hinges 33, 34 to provide ready access to, and hence the use of, both sides of foraminous member 11. In use, member 11, when supporting any number of ties, may be disposed in a generally parallel relationship to the vertical surface upon which hinge members 33, 34 are attached or shaft 27 may be rotated within the hinge members 33, 34 so that member 11 is disposed in a convergent relationship to the vertical surface.

A modification of the embodiment of FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. 7 and shows a variant mounting means 30 comprising upper and lower hinges 33, 34 attached to a plate member 35. Hinge plate 35 is in turn mounted in a preselected location by suitable means such as a hook eye 36. An extending rod 44 may be included, if desired, to provide support for such conventional ties as the user may still possess. This variant is especially suited when it is more feasible to hang the device, as from a picture hook than to drill multiple holes in a wall or a piece of furniture.

Another embodiment of my device, having double surface utility is shown in FIG. 8 and comprises a foraminous member of flexible netting ll engaged at its upper edge 14 between the frontal bar 23 and rear bar 24 of clamping member 21 and at its lower edge 15 between like bars of clamping member 22. Belt hooks 42, may be depended from member 22 or omitted, as desired. In a similar fashion, tie bar 44 may be associated with member 21 or omitted. Clamping member 22 is provided with sufficient weight so that in response to the pull of gravity thereupon it will maintain member 11 under slight tension.

As shown in FIG. 8, member 11 extends transversely to a room surface upon which a hook may be attached to engage suspension means such as eye 36. Or, if desired, means 36 may be formed as the hook of a conventional clothes hanger (not shown) and hung from a closet bar in the conventional fashion.

In operation, any of my several embodiments may be mounted to or hung from a preselected vertical surface in any of the fashions indicated or suspended in a closet so as to present both surfaces of the foraminous member for use. The foraminous member, thus mounted, presents a plurality of discrete supporting means in generally aligned rank and file relationship to each other, each for receiving and holding the hook of a pretied four-in-hand necktie having a collar engaging hook built thereinto. The yieldable foraminous member may also be used to support and display a so-called clipon bow tie by the simple act of introducing each of the tie clamps into a different one of said supporting means.

It becomes apparent that the device herein described and illustrated readily solves the problems residing in the prior art devices, permits any number of neckties to be held in and removed from a preselected position without causing the relo cation of any other ties, prevents bunching and hence wrinkling of the lower positioned ties, and can be, with simple modification, adapted to also hold conventional ties, belts and the like in a common location.

Thus, the present invention fulfills in a novel and unobvious fashion all of the aforestated objects and particularly provides a new and improved device for supporting articles of haberdashery, especially pretied bow ties and four-in-hand ties which are characterized by a collar-engaging hook. Further, my device prevents ties from bunching upon one another in response to gravity; enables a chosen article to be quickly and easily selected and removed therefrom without disturbing the relative position of any other article disposed thereupon; can be mounted for pivotal relationship to a vertical supporting surface or suspended to provide access to each of two operational surfaces in both personal or commercial quarters; and can be constructed inexpensively to provide a variety of shapes and sizes in any easy and practical fashion.

It is, of course, understood that such other modifications, alterations, and adaptations of my embodiments as may be obvious to the artisan confronted by this disclosure are intended within the spirit of this disclosure especially as it is defined by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

l. A device for supporting and displaying neckties having supporting hooks built thereinto, said device comprising: a rectangular member having an upper and a lower edge and a plurality of foramina disposed therebetween in ranks parallel thereto support means operatively associated with said upper and said lower edge of said member, said support means comprising a tubular U-frame having a shaft member and first and second arm members, said first arm member engaging said rectangular member adjacent said upper edge, said second arm member engaging said rectangular member adjacent said lower edge, and said shaft member interconnecting said first and second arm member; and mounting means connectable to said support means for attaching said support means to a preselected situs to expose both sides of said rectangular member and permit the attachment of one of said necktie hooks in a different one of said foramina, said mounting means comprising a first and a second hinge member connected to a vertical surface in spaced relationship to each other and having said shaft member disposed therethrough for rotation therewithin, said hinge members being attachable to a hinge plate, said hinge plate being suspendible in a vertical plane.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which said rectangular member is a sheet of yieldable netting.

3. A device according to claim 1 in which said foraminous member comprises a sheet of plastic having a plurality of openings defined therethrough in rank and file relationship to each other.

4. A device according to claim 1 in which said first and second arm members respectively engage said rectangular member by passing through foramina aligned therewith. 

1. A device for supporting and displaying neckties having supporting hooks built thereinto, said device comprising: a rectangular member having an upper and a lower edge and a plurality of foramina disposed therebetween in ranks parallel tereto, support means operatively associated with said upper and said lower edge of said member, said support means comprising a tubular U-frame having a shaft member and first and second arm members, said first arm member engaging said rectangular member adjacent said upper edge, said second arm member engaging said rectangular member adjacent said lower edge, and said shaft member interconnecting said first and second arm member; and mounting means connectable to said support means for attaching said support means to a preselected situs to expose both sides of said rectangular member and permit the attachment of one of said necktie hooks in a different one of said foramina, said mounting means comprising a first and a second hinge member connected to a vertical surface in spaced relationship to each other and having said shaft member disposed therethrough for rotation therewithin, said hinge members being attachable to a hinge plate, said hinge plate being suspendable in a vertical plane.
 2. A device according to claim 1 in which said rectangular member is a sheet of yieldable netting.
 3. A device according to claim 1 in which said foraminous member comprises a sheet of plastic having a plurality of openings defined therethrough in rank and file relationship to each other.
 4. A device according to claim 1 in which said first and second arm members respectively engage said rectangular member by passing through foramina aligned therewith. 